Posted on 10/20/2006 6:42:02 AM PDT by WestNJersey
The pink plastic flamingo, a Florida-inspired icon that has been reviled as kitschy bad taste and revered as retro cool, is dead at age 49.
The pop culture symbol met its demise after its manufacturer, Union Products, of Leominster, Mass., was socked with a triple economic threat -- increases in costs of electricity and plastic resin combined with loss of financing. Production ended in June, and the plant is scheduled to close Nov. 1, according to president and CEO Dennis Plante. Union Products made 250,000 of its patented plastic pink flamingos a year in addition to other garden products.
Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, paid tribute to the infamous bird that has been immortalized everywhere -- from the John Waters' movie Pink Flamingos, to bachelor parties and lawns across America.
"Let's face it," he said. "As iconic emblems of kitsch, there are two pillars of cheesy, campiness in the American pantheon. One is the velvet Elvis. The other is the pink flamingo."
The birth of the plastic pink flamingo in 1957 coincided with the booming interest in Florida, Thompson said, making it possible for those in other parts of the country to have a little piece of the Sunshine State's mystique in their yard.
By the late '70s, according to Thompson, the pink flamingo became a symbol of bad taste. It was considered trash culture and embraced by folks with a wise-guy attitude. They knew better (wink, wink) but embraced the iconic symbol anyway.
By the late '80s and early '90s, he said we learned to make fun of pop culture items such as the pink flamingo as well as appreciate them.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
Now if we could just get rid of Leominster.
Oh no! This is AWFUL. You want to give me a present?? Send me 6 of these. :D
Man, i don't like this news.
A different strain of bird flu....RIP flamingo!
:) Funny.
LOL...one of my kids sport's teams did 'Flamingoing' (is that even a word?) as a fundraiser. A flock would mysteriously show up on a relative or close friend's lawn, and then a donation was made to retrieve the flock. Cute, harmless idea...but we noticed that when we would pick up our birdies, our flock would diminish by one or two each time. Hmmmm...popular kitschy item.
the horror! the horror!
I don't care what others think, i LIKE flamingos. They are pink my favorite color. Their neck makes a nice, graceful S shape, as in Shimmer, i just like them. I wouldn't have just two, but i like them when they are in groups. In fact, I'd have them just because they aren't the "in" thing.
my ex-mil has some, as does my ex-sil's. When I jokingly ask my ex why we didn't have any, she launched into a tirade denouncing tham as tacky and 'zoozoo' whatever that means.
she's my ex now. better.
Of COURSE she's your ex, with a mean spirited, anti-flamingo attitude like that!
LOL~! although i suppose that this is not a time for levity - poor pinko-commie-flamingos...
I had heard of a company that would put pink flamingos or gnomes in someone's yard as a prank.
luckily I have a bunch already, but I could always use more
http://cgi.ebay.com/Flamingo-wholesale-lot-50-PINK-FLAMINGOS_W0QQitemZ180037958348QQihZ008QQcategoryZ29513QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Set of 50 selling on ebay, woo hoo!
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